The Boy and the Beast, Vol. 2 | By Mamoru Hosada and Renji Asai | Yen Press – I don’t think I ever reviewed the first volume of the manga adaptation of this, but it’s a very nice adaptation. It hits the high points of the book and shows how Kyuta and Kumatetsu both irritate and inspire each other. The journey to discover what strength is is more hilarious and less character building than the novel, but that’s fine—the jokes are excellent. We also get the timeskip here, meaning Kyuta now ends up back in modern-day Japan and meets Kaede, a high school girl with a troubled relationship with her parents. That said, the two worlds are separate for a reason, and the next volume will get deeper into that. My guess is this runs four volumes. It’s worth a look, and great for kids. – Sean Gaffney
Complex Age, Vol. 2 | By Yui Sakuma | Kodansha Comics – Volume one ended with the cliffhanger of Nagisa being spotted at a cosplay event by her hardass coworker, Hayama. However, it turns out that Hayama is a cosplayer, too, and they become friends, only for Nagisa to watch helplessly as Hayama is driven to resign once someone at the office finds her sultry in-character photos and distributes them. Coworkers are not the only threat to Nagisa’s precious world, but the other one involves a big surprise that is the real reveal of this volume. Maybe other readers saw that coming, but I surely didn’t! I really want Nagisa to be able to triumph here, to be able to retain her sense of joy in a pursuit that isn’t hurting anyone, but in a series so capable of surprising me, I honestly have doubts that we will get a sunny, happy ending. And that’s a good thing! Don’t miss this one. – Michelle Smith
Don’t Be Cruel, Vols. 3-4 | By Yonezou Nekota | SuBLime – In order to evalate this double volume on its own merits, I decided to try to forget the horrible way the series began. Now, we find Maya and Nemugasa changed by their relationship, to the point where previously irresponsible Maya has begun to give serious consideration to his future. He starts studying like mad, and comes to appreciate how hard Nemugasa’s been working all this time. I liked that part, but of course, there is drama and misunderstanding aplenty, especially when a quick fast-forward takes the guys into college, where Nemugasa ends up prioritizing a friend who got dumped over a hot springs outing with Maya, and nearly gets dumped as a result. I don’t know; I still find both of these guys somewhat annoying, and the bonus chapter about a fellow student and a teacher was pretty icky, too. I may be done for good now. – Michelle Smith
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 14 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki – “Reinvigorating” is the word that comes to mind to describe this volume of Food Wars!. As part of the stagiaire program, Soma has been assigned to work in Shinomiya’s high-end French restaurant, which is his biggest challenge to date. He had been secure in his knowledge of how family restaurants operate, but this one is completely different. It is excellent to see him flounder and rebound, and his typical cockiness is tempered somewhat as a result. He’s still confident, but also respectful and eager to learn. By week’s end, he’s managed to incorporate elements of Shinomiya’s techniques into a traditional dish, putting him one step closer to finding his own specialty. Much like a shounen battle manga, we get glimpses of how the other students are getting stronger in their assignments, too. Then it’s time to meet the Council of Ten. I seriously love this series. – Michelle Smith
He’s My Only Vampire, Vol. 8 | By Aya Shouoto | Yen Press – I’ve reached the point where I would drop this if I didn’t know that it was going to end soon. The relationship between Kana, Aki and Eriya is front and center in this volume, and Kana’s love for Aki really doesn’t enter into it at all. Each volume she’s gotten less and less to do, to the point where she’s literally a passive mind-controlled hostage by the end of this book, dressed up as Eve for no reason other than dramatic effect. Slightly more interesting is Eriya’s backstory, which manages to be quite grotesque, though suffers from the art being too pretty—imagine what this series would have been like had Kaori Yuki written it. (Imagine the body count, which would have tripled.) For diehards only. – Sean Gaffney
The Honor Student at Magic High School, Vol. 4 | By Tsutomu Sato and Yu Mori | Yen Press – This is the first volume of this series that I’ve read after reading the source novel it’s a spinoff of, and it’s amazing how much more sense it makes now. In fact, it’s becoming clearer why Yen licensed this spinoff but not the main manga series—the two must be mostly identical, as Honoka and Shizuku don’t get much to do here, so the majority of this is the events of the first volume, only from Miyuki’s perspective rather than Tatsuki’s. This isn’t a bad thing, as Miyuki’s thoughts, brother complex aside, are quite different from the stoic male lead viewpoint. It would appear that the next spinoff volume deals with the third novel’s plotline, so I am relieved the book will be out first. – Sean Gaffney